Gunners crisis may have a positive outcome

When Spring approaches, there are always a few certainties in life. Easter Sunday will take place, it will rain a lot and nature will restart its circle of life. Oh and Arsenal will be out of contention in all competitions.

Once again, the Gunners have stuck to their yearly routine, though they disappointed earlier than usual in the Premiership this season, indeed some say their chances were over as early as losing 8-2 to United. Certainly by the time they were turned over by Fulham, Swansea and then by Fergie and his boys again in the league, they waved goodbye to the title once more.

Not content with mere Premiership capitulation, the Gunners imploded completely last week, losing the first leg of their Champions League clash to AC Milan 4-0, before crashing out of the FA Cup thanks to a 2-0 defeat to Sunderland. The defeat to Milan, shameful though it was, is more understandable, the Italian side's frontline clicked in a way us neutral viewers in England have never seen before. Tormentors in chief were Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Robinho and believe it or not, former Spurs reject Kevin Prince Boateng. And they had Pato on the bench. That team is enough to give anyone a hiding, but unfortunately for Wenger and his boys, it was them on the receiving end. The defeat to Sunderland was just miserable though, Martin O’Neill’s side completely outplayed Arsenal and they will be kicking themselves with City and United both out of the competition and Chelsea and Spurs facing replays.

So where now for Arsenal? Mr Wenger is in his 16^th year at the club, and he faces his seventh successive season without a trophy. Let’s be honest, at any other club (bar maybe Manchester United), the Frenchman would find himself out of a job. This is now a significant period without success and they haven’t even come close to a Premier League title. OK, there was the occasion in 2008 when Gallas’s one-man pitch protest ruined team morale, but that was in March, a whole two months before the end of the season. There was the League Cup final defeat to Birmingham last year and the one to Chelsea in 2007, but who counts the League Cup anyway? And of course, the Champions League Final in 2006. As unlucky as they were in Paris that night, that’s still six years ago.

That just isn’t good enough for a side who regularly finishes in the Top Four, indeed if it wasn’t for their consistency in finishing in the Champions League places, you feel changes may already have been made. There is a realistic possibility they may miss out this year, although they currently lie fourth, they face an almighty challenge to hang onto that spot from Chelsea and to a lesser extent Liverpool and Newcastle. There’s no two ways about it, no Champions League football would ruin the club. Arsenal cannot afford to compete with City or Chelsea anyway, never mind without the revenue taken from the competition. Player exits will undoubtedly follow, the obvious one being Robin Van Persie who is already making serious noises about jumping ship in the summer. Alex Song has also been linked with PSG.

The man in question is Wenger himself. Arsenal fans have managed to defend their loved one in previous years by praising the way their club is run. His youth policy is admirable, his ability to decide when to sell a player just past their peak is second-to-none and he has an eye for foreign talent. You get the impression this has changed recently. This summer’s transfer activities were nothing short of miserable, they lost Fabregas to Barca (who certainly wasn’t past his peak), Nasri to City (couldn’t afford his wages) and Clichy also to City (never replaced.) Bringing players in was left till the last minute, hence why the defensive issue was never solved; indeed Per Mertesacker has proved disastrous. Only Mikel Arteta could really be judged to have had a positive impact at the Emirates since his move, although Alex Oxlade Chamberlain is starting to come to the fore. There have been recent signs the Arsenal faithful are starting to lose patience with Wenger; take note of the minority booing the decision to replace Oxlade-Chamberlain with Arshavin during the defeat to Manchester United. A minority it was, but it was still audible.

Changes need to be made. The wage budget has to be radically altered, it is clear the policy of promoting talented youngsters is failing and big names need to be attracted to the Emirates. The likes of Mario Gotze and Eden Hazard have been mentioned, but neither of those two will sign for Arsenal if the wages aren’t there. The players currently at the club need an incentive to stay. They should throw the chequebook at Robin Van Persie, he is irreplaceable and therefore the club needs to do whatever it takes to keep him in London. The defence has to be sorted out as well, the likes of Mertesacker, Djourou and Squillaci just aren’t good enough, so why on earth wasn’t Gary Cahill bought in the summer? And the final issue revolves round the manager. Has Wenger lost his touch? There is talk of moving the man into the boardroom and taking on a fresh approach, but in all honesty, who could do a better job? Only Mourinho and Guardiola come to mind and it would take some negotiating to bring one of them to the Emirates.

This summer is important for the Gunners. There is no doubt the squad has a decent backbone, there are some talented youngsters there. The deadwood needs shifting on though, there are a number of players stealing a living off the football club (mentioning no names Mr Arshavin). However, the likes of Wilshere, Ramsey, Szczesny and Oxlade Chamberlain can form the basis of the squad for the future. Others like Walcott, Song, Vermaelen and Koscielny are also quality players, so therefore only a couple of new signings would have to be brought in to the club to fit around the talent already there. Wenger needs to be given a chance, given financial backing and most importantly, hold onto Van the Man. There is still hope for the Gunners, indeed most other clubs in England would snap your hand off to face the ‘crisis’ evolving at Arsenal. But things need to change. And quickly. 

Tom Mordey @The_CoinToss

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Comments

[Wombledin]

Quite a good article, however Wenger has proven that even with a large transfer kitty like last summer his philosophy is to be parsimonious in the transfer market while profligate in wages to underperforming players. Penny wise and pound foolish. He simply cannot be trusted to invest properly in the squad and he should go now, irrespective of the issue of money. And it is rather obvious by now that he is a rather poor defensive coach. If we finish outside of the top four he should be instantly sacked, period. And most fans would no longer believe Walcott has what it takes.

[AJ]

Good post would disagree with Walcott being quality. Yes he may well of been setting the league a light if he had a mentor to learn from but he don't! but that is no failing of his own it is management. Yes the back bone is kind of there and yes Van P needs to be kept BUT we need quality players who are in their prime not just to get us back in winning ways but also for the young talented players to learn from and compete against! Ramsey seems to be going the same way as walcott has no mentor other than Rosicky and Arshavin not really players that inspire.

[nickfromportugal]

Mertsacker a disaster, no Arsenal's defence has een a disaster without him, that is in the last two matches....

[Johnny Skeng]

lol @ saying mertsacker is a disaster, then saying why didn't we bring in cahill... cahill is a joke of a defender and is being found out at chelsea lol, smh...

[Malk]

@ Johnny Skeng

I know. The only reason Cahill gets praise is because he's English and he's the only English defender that doesn't have two left feet when he's on the ball - that doesn't mean he's a good defender. I was glad we didn't sign him especially for 8mil. He has no CL experience and one year left on his contract, 8 mil. was a rip off but they shouldn't have bought him anyway.

When it comes to Mertesacker, I can remember the cries from fans to buy him a couple of years ago, now we have him and they cry foul. He doesn't set the world alight but what CB does? He mops up and does the aerial work while Koscielny does the groundwork. It'll prove to be an astute purchase over time; think of Koscielny last year compared to this year, an unbelievable difference.

[RM17-Gooner]

The answer in my eyes is simple. Get rid of "Silent Stan" and let Osmanov take control of the club. He will bring his vast fortune and David Dein back to the club. Money and David Dein are the answer to Arsenal' problems. Together Osmanov, Dein and Wenger can bring the glory days back to Arsenal.

[zdzis]

It's hard to judge Wenger's transfer activity, when the only reason we think he had the money was because he didn't spend it. The club's spent almost 55m (which is roughly the sum now reported to have been handed Wenger for the next transfer window), bringing in two highly-rated foreign internationals, three potent youngsters, a tested Spaniard, a Brazilian from Turkey, and an untested Korean. That's 8 entirely new players, with 5 of them actually making the 1st XI (not all at one time, but still). Not bad for an Arsenal transfer window.
Now, as for the quality of the newcomers. Arteta is a known quantity and we can't expect more than he gives already, which is all that a squad player needs. But he's not 1st XI material, no sir. Mertesacker is more than a squad player, but he's spent something like 10 years playing the Bundesliga, which is really incomparable to the EPL. He needs time to get used to it, and he is making progress. He definitely won't make it like Koscielny, but he's not supposed to - he should rather grow muscles to let him win those headers more often. His record isn't as blemished as you make it seem. Santos has still not shown what he's made of, but from what we've seen, he can be a powerful addition. All in all, Arsenal definitely need additions, but only of the kind that would improve the squad - an attacking allrounder of quality, an attacking midfielder with some defensive quality. No wimpy egotistic kids like Goetze, that's for sure. Hazard also seems less and less likely to arrive, simply because he seems not to be as good defensively, and he will be expected to defend as well.
If you think that a renowned international playing for one of the best national sides in the world is far worse than an erratic, irregular international with one of those pretender sides that often just flatter to deceive (and level with a retired international with no chances of coming back to his national team - Squillaci), you should perhaps watch football more often. Or try to find another hobby.

[Odu]

Everton has financial problems and cannot buy players, this is clear and known to everybody. The club plans along this line and do their best in the circumstance. For Arsenal, it is not clear, we hear of money been available every year, yet nothing is done, the manager has not openly complained of non availability of moneyfor transfers, Is it not the board has not made money available for transfers or the manager is just been stingy. The Arsenal problems is same year in year out- ie selling of players and not replacing them. Then the defence issue which has been leaking and been like that for years without any serious action from the manager. The Manager should be able to tell the fans clearly whether the board has reallly made money available.

[jeff]

In my own opinion all we need are two things!!!!!! In our midfield we need a creative midfielder who trades passes through opponent defense with precision (who comes into mind) Young & experienced names like Ericson, Hazard, Mario etc. We used to survive our games solely because of Cesc's attributes. He could turn any defensive move to a massive counter attack!!!!!! Walcott races and out of nothing we score and we are feared as an attacking team. Has anyone realized that Walcott looked better when Couq played coz he made some interesting and important runs making Walcott a better player. We have Jack as good as he is unfortunately not available when we needed him most. BUT Wenger had the opportunity to replace Cesc never mind Nasri. We missed out on Mata who I still believe could have added a biting force within our midfield. Alverez also and one wonders why Arsenal felt contented without such a replacement. If Wenger, wants to see a revived Arsenal he has to get the right cog missing in the midfield. Arteta is good but not to be deemed replacement for Cesc (maybe a fitting complement) so truly speaking Wenger brought misery to Arsenal through poor decision making.

As much as I am not a fanatic of Per Mert I acknowledge that he has tried to do his best BUT adjustments to EPL have taken a long way to master. On this one had we bought either Garry or Samba it could have been different. As for Samba he looks to have authority on his movements and he is not an easy go by strikers making him one of the guys we need NOW. Imagine where you would have Verma and Samba as your CB surely any striker who gets contact with one twice or so will think twice before making a one to one approach. Strikers’ need to fear defenders!!!!!!! Get me right here as long as it is the Defenders who fear strikers you are in big trouble even a shake of strikers’ hand will call for a sliding tackle" and that’s terrible.
I am not so sure if we still have anything to build on this year due to some performances that have no trend, massive wins next terrible loss etc. BUT Wenger must act NOW and get his pieces in place and not to wait for the bidding process with the billionaires. Let’s not waist resources in trying to prove or discredit things likes January window or so let’s get our house in order first. C'mon Guys there is a lot to preserve at Arsenal WHY should we let these records fall in our hands!!!!????